Well last time I was here I was showing everyone my 1940 Pontiac project... Well at my skill level (and the fact that there is very little available for the Pontiac) I decided to sell the project to my brother in law and move on to a different hot rod that would be more in my budget. My boyfriend and fellow HAMB member D_Lazaris told me that I need a good ol' fashion hot rod! So I searched for a couple weeks and I found a 1925 T Bucket! It is actually a 25 steel body not a fiberglass one, original chassis, original gas tank, and original grill shell... Oh and the pink slip!!! So I am very lucky because my boyfriend is giving me a Y- block to power the car, he offered a flathead but this is a very low budget build and the Y- block already runs. I am using the automatic transmission that is attached to the Y-block.... I do want a 4 speed in the car but again budget build and its free.
Now onto collecting parts!! I was planning on getting a banjo rear end for the bucket. Our friend Dave had one he was going to sell cheap. But after getting there and talking about it I decided to get a ford 9 inch.. Yeah it doesn't look as good but it will hold up anything I throw at it! So now onto the front end! I went to the long beach swap meet and was shocked how much front axles cost, even stock ones... So discouraged I went home and searched craigslist. I ended up finding a home built trailer that had a stock front axle. The guy said it was a 32 front axle... Yeah everything is from a 32 if they don't know what it's from. So after cutting the trailer up ( and using the scrap metal to box my chassis) I now have a front end! It also had a cool pair of delco lovejoy shocks which I am planning on using!
That looks like a great beginning. There's not a lot of good steel early Fords and having a title will help when you go to register. Congrats and keep us updated. I have a T bucket(fiberglass) and will keep a look out.
Sweet! Love those things. I'm building one now too. Nice on running a y-block; we used to have a few of those, cool motors.
i dig tbuckets and may build one come winter.. right now just saving money waiting for the heat to mellow some then ill have to decide what the hell im gonna do, as of now just collecting parts front end, rear, engine etc as these can be used in anything i decide to go with.. all i know for sure is i want a roadster living in the desert.... look forward to your progress.. you will have lots of fun no doubt. chris.
sooooo jealous, but excited for ya. its awesome to see a real steel t bucket being built, esp with a y block and not a sbc. good luck, and im sure with your bf you should be in good hands
Thats a great start and will be a definite skills builder so you can take on something bigger like that pontiac. Dont worry about the 9 not looking right I have one completly exposed on my mod & it looks just fine.
The T bucket is thee best platform for someone starting out. I have a real steel 26. AWESOME, Welcome to the HAMB! TR
Good for you. It's great to see a young lady interested enough to build her own car..........when I was younger the girls didn't even like riding in one ! A T bucket is a great car to build and a lot of fun when done. The Y block and 9 incher will make it a reliable one too. Great start, keep the updates and pictures coming. And I'm old enough to get away with this...........your BF is ONE lucky guy in more ways than you just liking cars. You're a cutie. Don
Hehe, I just said what all you other guys were thinking. Amy, one thing you might want to consider. A T frame like that is ok, but will take so much reinforcing to get it right that it might make better sense to either build one out of something like 1.5 or 2 x 3 inch tubing, or to just pickup one of the many commercially available ones. They are cheap (compared to an A or Deuce frame) and would give you a real head start on this project. Since you are in California there should be a zillion places where you could pick one up already done. Just a thought. Don
Soooo, I'm Jealous... Haha I love steel T buckets, you can do so much with them! Good Luck on the Build Amy! Hope to see more pics soon!
yeah, they do not have the heat us desert rats deal with. but its all good iv have grown to love the desert.. may i recommend a book for you? its build a Tbucket for 3k.. i bought it and have read it, good info. as this will be my first project of this nature is why iv been leaning to the bucket.. but alas not doing a damn thing till winter. here is a link to the book: http://www.tbucketplans.com/how-to-...-roadster-for-under-3000-kickin-it-old-skool/ the book is really well written.. iv just included the price of the book into my build as ill be on a budget. unfortunately for me.. im rather tall so no way id fit in a T bucket with out it stretching it.. so thats why not sure what im gonna do for a body yet other than i want it to be topless. you are right if they do not know what it is, it becomes a 32, or its a mild custom or whatever Mr. Barris built it!!! laughs. guess there is a benefit of getting old you can flirt and get away with it. LOL chris.
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